Road to the Striker Cup
by Cascore
Summary: After receiving letters from the Striker League Committee, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and eight other Striker captains set out in hopes of winning the most coveted of trophies: The Striker Cup.
1. The Invitation

**Cascore's Note: Hey everyone, welcome to another new story of mine. Having completed Cherry a bit sooner than I expected, and recently obtaining Mario Strikers Charged, I decided to give myself another challenging fanfiction to work on. This one will test my skills as far as describing constant, fast-paced action scenes (since this _is_ based off of Mario Strikers Charged, and anyone who's played that game would likely agree it's very action-oriented). I've also never tried writing a story about a sport before, though this isn't so much a sport as it is a battleground...which only makes it all the more fun. I'm going to try to have a healthy mix of action from the matches as well as behind-the-scenes parts that go on outside of a match. Anyway, I should probably let you go ahead and read on. I'll go ahead and tell you one thing before I let you go though: this first scene actually happened to me in the game. Just thought I'd share that with you. Now, read, and I hope you enjoy.**

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**Chapter 1: "The Invitation"**

To think he'd make it this far with only one loss under his belt, twenty wins, and not a single sudden death match to be seen. Luigi was having an excellent streak as his Strikers career set off to a fantastic start.

He pulled stunts and trumped the competition in the Fire Cup, making his fans rock the stadium with cheers and chants. He made near-wins and come-from-behind victories in the Crystal Cup that caused supporters to storm the streets, shouting out his name as they wore their green "2" jerseys with "Luigi, The Green Giant" written on the back. He managed to breeze by the elimination rounds, stomping Bowser Jr. and Waluigi into the ground with shutout games.

But now was the big moment. All of that hard work his team went through would mean absolutely nothing if he couldn't win this one, fateful game. He was up against Diddy Kong, the defending champion of the Crystal cup. And not only did the field on which they played perform odd tricks on the team, eliminating certain members from both sides before the game even began, but Diddy was also quite a formidable opponent, far superior in skill than anyone Luigi faced so far.

The first game of the best-of-three battle was an utter mess. Having never played on the field before, Luigi didn't expect to lose certain teammates after every goal that was made, and he was even more surprised to find himself be ejected from the game at one point. He tried to put up with the odd field, but only managed to score a single goal as the game progressed, not enough to overcome Diddy's three. The first game of the battle was lost, meaning Luigi had to win the next two if he hoped to win the Crystal Cup for his team.

Fortunately, the very next game, he dominated the field. Coming out of the game with a four to nothing win, Luigi's spirits were rising once again. But he wasn't out of the woods just yet. This was the determining game right here. The best-of-three was gridlocked at one-one. Whoever won this was going home either the defending champion, or the new victor.

Luigi had everything planned out. If he could keep up his assault as he did in the previous game and land a Mega Strike or two, he could hopefully trump Diddy out of his position as champion. However, this game all depended on who was ejected for this match.

Luigi and Diddy stared each other down, their teeth gritted as they waited for the judgment light to pick the team members out of the field to sit out the match. Who would it be this time? Toad maybe? It would be okay if Toad was gone, Hammer Bro could fill in his spot with his superb passing abilities, though his running wasn't quite so great.

Losing Dry Bones would be bad though, for he was the best line of defense on Luigi's team, never failing to take down anyone who got too close to Kritter the goalkeeper. And if Hammer Bro was taken out, that made Luigi the only one who could deliver a decent shot. There were different cons with every possible loss, but all Luigi could do was wait.

The moment of truth finally came, and Birdo from Diddy's team was selected, while Hammer Bro from Luigi's was taken away. Luigi grumbled as he saw this, but, soon enough, he could feel himself being lifted into the air and watched Diddy get picked out as well.

"This isn't good," Luigi muttered as the light only left behind Toad and Dry Bones. They could easily defend the goal with their quick feet, but only Toad could pass very well, and neither of them had very impressive shooting skills.

As he looked on the field however, he noticed that a Toad and a Dry Bones were the only two left on Diddy's team too, making both sides truly evenly matched. Neither team could shoot worth a grain of dirt and both had two quick runners, one good defender, and one good passer. In short, this was going to be an interesting match. If not rather long and unnerving.

And thus, the final game began. Both Toads sprinted forward at the ball resting in the center of the field at full speed while the Dry Bones kept their eyes on each other closely. Before either Toad could completely reach the ball, the one from Diddy's team delivered a painful body check to the one from Luigi's, leaving the ball wide open for Diddy's nearby Dry Bones to run up and snatch it away.

Granted with a Green Shell from the unnecessary tackle, Luigi's Dry Bones sent the weapon hurtling at the current ball holder, who lobbed a quick pass over to his Toad partner just before being smacked with the giant Koopa shell. Diddy's Toad jumped to receive the ball, only to be tackled by Luigi's Toad as he came down to land, leaving the ball rolling as Luigi's Dry Bones rushed forward and claimed it.

The Dry Bones went straight for Diddy's Kritter and brought his foot back, concentrating his power to charge up his Skillshot. The ball transformed into an orb of electricity as Dry Bones finally kicked it, sending it flying directly into Kritter, who became instantly stunned by the move. The ball rolled back toward Dry Bones, who was still wide open as his opponents recovered from their attacks, and he delivered another swift kick, only to have it smack right into the stunned Kritter and roll right back toward him.

"Well that was pointless..." Dry Bones muttered as he went in for a third kick, hoping to have more luck this time. However, before he could make the move, Diddy's Dry Bones dashed his way over and body slammed Luigi's into the surrounding electrical fence, frying him as Toad was left to fend for himself against Diddy's two teammates.

As if playing a game of keep-away, Diddy's Dry Bones and Toad passed the ball back and forth as they move towards Luigi's side of the field, charging it up to its yellow state rather quickly, one step below its strongest charge, white. The Toad passed the ball to the Dry Bones, who readied himself for a quick shot, only to be cut off by a tackle from Luigi's Toad, resulting in a stolen charged up ball that Toad hastily transported to Diddy's side of the field.

He lobbed a pass over to Dry Bones, just narrowly sending it above Diddy's Toad who didn't jump in time to snatch it. Dry Bones jumped up and delivered a powerful corkscrew spin kick, straightening out his body horizontally and launching the ball with all his might. Unfortunately, he was rather far from the goalie, actually sending the kick from near the center of the field. This resulted in the ball simply falling to the ground as it came to a roll before Kritter, who merely knelt down to pick up the ball and roll it out to Diddy's Toad, who quickly passed the ball to his Dry Bones teammate. The Dry Bones sent his own shot, only to be defended from the goal by Luigi's Kritter.

The back and forth went on for quite some time. The event was stressful for Luigi. For four long, grueling minutes, and well into sudden death, the two opposing teams struggled, remaining gridlocked at a solid zero-zero score. By now, if either team scored just one point, that team would win the cup. It was truly all-or-nothing at this point.

Then it happened.

A well-timed shot of three Blue Shells and the unfortunate misstep of both of Luigi's teammates right into the line of fire sealed their fate. Both of Luigi's partners were frozen on the spot, leaving Diddy's team to assault Kritter completely unguarded.

And Kritter didn't last long at all.

Faced with a powerful, fully charged, close-range kick from Diddy's Toad, the ball flew at the net, curving ever so slightly as it traveled along. Kritter dived, extending his arms as he reached for the ball. Missing by just a finger's length, the ball flew right past, scoring the one point Diddy needed to successfully defend his title as champion.

The crowd cheered, along with Diddy's team, but, at the same time, an aggravated Luigi stood up from his seat, nearly throwing his Wii remote and accompanying Nunchuck attachment to the floor in anger.

"Are you _SERIOUS!? _That was so _CHEAP!! _How did Kritter not block that!? I was so _close!!_" Luigi erupted as he took in a very deep breath to calm himself down. He dropped the remote on the couch behind him before walking into the next room over, where Mario was having a cup of coffee with a robot that sported a thin frame, but a rather large, egg shaped head. "Hey Eggman, your game's pretty rockin'. I give it two thumbs up."

"Affirmative," the robot responded, standing from his seat at the dining table. "Next Level Games will be pleased you approve." With that, Eggman ignited the jets installed within his feet. He launched himself out of the house through the roof, blasting off towards Next Level Games Headquarters. A few seconds of silence passed as Luigi observed the new hole in the roof he would have to patch up later and Mario frowned at the debris in his coffee.

"Can you believe it bro!!??" Luigi shouted at the top of his lungs, conjuring his rage as Mario looked over at him confusedly. "Throughout _all_ of the Fire Cup and _all_ of the Crystal Cup, I only had _one _loss!! Then I get up to the final match and I lose to a _Toad!_ Because of _one goal!_ And now I have to start the whole Crystal Cup over again!! This is insanity!!"

Mario simply tilted his head in response, causing Luigi to shrug.

"Yeah, it's just a game after all," Luigi muttered, instantly coming out of his anger. "Wanna play a few Domination matches?"

"Oh yeah!" Mario nodded eagerly, rising from his seat to join Luigi in the other room.

As the brothers readied themselves for their oncoming game, they heard two knocks at the front door, accompanied by a third that sent it flying off it hinges and rocketing through the room in which they were starting their match. They simply blinked for several moments as the door implanted itself into the wall nearby.

"MAIL CALL, SUCKAS!!" Parakarry yelled as an envelope sliced through the air like a ninja star, sticking itself into the newly relocated door. Parakarry soon flew off, leaving Luigi to sigh as he stood from the couch.

"I can tell this is gonna be something stupid," he muttered, yanking the letter out of the door, making a mental note that he would have to fix that too, and the wall. Mario got up as well and read the letter along with Luigi, who held it at arm's length so his brother could see too.

"_Masters Mario and Luigi, this letter is your official invitation to partake in the upcoming Striker League, a series of three round-robin style tournaments that each yield their own trophies and titles as Champions. These Tournaments are called the Fire, Crystal, and Striker Tournaments, and each holds a different amount of total games that must be played in order to win. If you think you are interested and would like to learn more, please send a response to the return address of this letter with any questions you may have. If you wish to partake in the tournament, then please visit the Mushroom Castle located in the Mushroom Kingdom's capitol, Toad Town, with this letter in hand. Toadsworth will add your name to the roster and answer any questions you may have. The event begins on the first of next month, exactly twenty-eight days from the date this letter was sent. We hope to see you there._

_- Striker League Committee"_

"That wasn't stupid at all," Luigi admitted without a hint of sarcasm in his voice whatsoever. "It sounds a lot like the game actually."

Mario nodded in agreement as they both glanced over at their game on the television they'd completely forgotten about. Currently, one of Mario's teammates was being tackled by one of Luigi's, who stole the ball and proceeded to stand idly, waiting for someone else to come tackle him. Since the game was ending in a mere ten seconds, Luigi decided he would have his Boo teammate take a random shot. Surprisingly enough, without the ball being charged up at all or the kick itself being powered, the Boo actually made the shot from halfway across the field. Mario's Kritter couldn't catch up to it as the ball rolled by him slowly. Mario and Luigi simply stared at the screen as Boo did a victory animation.

"...Now, why couldn't I do that during Sudden Death against Diddy...?" Luigi asked, prompting a shrug from Mario. "Well whatever, we can actually be doing this for real now," Luigi said, looking back at the letter with a smile. "Wanna go for it bro? Sounds like it'd be fun."

Mario nodded in response, causing Luigi to begin wondering about several things. However, after a while, he figured he may as well reserve his questions for Toadsworth once they arrived at the castle.

–

"Come on Peach!" Daisy taunted as she dribbled circles around her best friend. "You can't be afraid to get down and dirty if you want to play in the League!"

Daisy and Peach were practicing in a cleared patch of grass in the castle's garden, using their lightweight playing gear: Peach in a pink crop top, exposing her midriff, and pink shorts, with streaks of blue accenting the sides, and Daisy in a similar outfit, but orange with teal accents. Both of them also wore cleats displaying their accommodating colors. Peach refrained from partaking in the practice however, feeling that the act was rather brutish.

"I doubt I'd have to do this sort of thing during an actual game," Peach commented with a smile as she watched Daisy dribbled around her energetically.

"Doubt all ya want, taking people down is a big part of being a Striker," Daisy informed, stopping in front of Peach and balancing the ball on one foot, beginning to kick it up into the air as she started to perform a few legwork tricks. "Sure, if you wanna be 'civilized' about it, you can try slide tackling all the time. But believe me, people aren't gonna go easy on you out there just because you're the princess. And when they bite you, you're gonna want to bite back."

"You know I couldn't do something like that Daisy," Peach said, looking at the ground as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Even if it is a part of the game."

"Ah, Peach..." Daisy muttered with a smile, now bouncing the ball off her head. "With an attitude like that, you're not gonna make it very far in this competition. When you want to be a Striker, you have to get yourself lost in the game ya know? Just forget about everything else. Your only focus is winning, not 'Oh my, I hope I didn't hurt them' or something like that. Worry about injuries after the game's over."

Peach simply sighed as she dropped down to the grass, sitting with her legs fully extended before her in a "V" shape and holding herself up with her arms.

"I wish I could be like you Daisy," Peach admitted, causing Daisy to cease balancing the ball and catch it. She looked down at Peach with a slightly raised eyebrow. "You're so competitive, and you're not afraid to do whatever it takes to win. I'm just the total opposite. I'm not sure I'd be able to participate in this really. It just seems like such a physical, violent sport."

"Well...yeah, it kinda is," Daisy agreed with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean people are actually gonna be getting hurt that much. You do remember what Toadsworth told us don't you?" she asked, sitting next to Peach cross-legged, holding the ball in her lap. "To counter all the physicality of the game, everyone's getting that special protective gear. It's supposed to nullify the pain of possible attacks almost completely."

"Oh yeah," Peach mumbled, cocking her head slightly, recalling the talk. "Well...in that case, maybe I can get into it just a little." Daisy smiled at this, standing up once again.

"You sure you don't want to practice your big hits then?" Daisy asked, dropping the ball onto the ground and holding it down with her foot. Peach looked up at her, beginning to give an excuse not to, but Daisy quickly stopped her. "Don't say that you don't want to hurt me. Believe me Peach, you won't."

"And what makes you think I won't?" Peach asked defensively with a smile as she stood up, placing her hands on her hips. Daisy snickered, playfully turning a cheek to her falsely offended friend.

"Please, with a noodle body like yours, I don't think you'd even be able to knock me down," Daisy commented with a smug smile, causing Peach to scoff, her eyes wide.

"Is that so?" Peach said, beginning to step toward Daisy, evidently taking up the challenge. Daisy caught on quickly, dribbling the ball backwards at an equal pace to Peach's advancement. "I think I can."

"Bring it," Daisy challenged with a chuckle as Peach dashed forward at her, causing her to turn and run through the grass as she dribbled the ball.

As Peach gave chase to Daisy, Mario and Luigi appeared on the scene, dressed up in their own red and green jerseys with accommodating shorts and cleats. They also appeared to be carrying some rather bulky pieces of armor that matched their jersey colors: chest plates, shin guards, shoulder pads, metal gloves, and a pair of special cleats. Feeling slightly overwhelmed by such protective armor, neither of them bothered to try them on yet. However, they did feel incredibly lightweight, despite their size.

Dropping the pieces of equipment on the ground unceremoniously, the brothers silently observed as Peach continued her struggle to tackle Daisy. It appeared Peach was beginning to lose her patience, as Daisy could make hairpin turns with the ball on a whim and could deke out of the way just as Peach went in to tackle her. Until now though, Peach was holding back. She would simply try to elbow Daisy instead of put her full body behind the attack.

"Come on Peach, put your weight into it!" Daisy called back as she outran Peach in a straight line. "You can't expect to just nudge people to make them lose the ball!"

Peach grumbled as she gave chase to Daisy, who was now running in a line that would take her just past Mario and Luigi along the way. As she approached Luigi, she yelled out "Hey Sweetie!" and continued to run past him, closely followed by a groaning Peach. After finally getting within striking distant, Peach stopped holding back and put everything she had behind a tackling lunge.

She flew forward, only to narrowly miss Daisy as she made another turn, falling flat on the ground and skidding on the grass a short distance.

"Almost had me that time!" Daisy shouted behind her back happily as she ran off with the ball, leaving Peach behind to gather herself back up and grumble once more. She felt that she was finally becoming annoyed and soon, Daisy was the center of her attention, everything else seeming to disappear as she focused on her annoyingly agile opponent. Soon Peach began to run after her once more, but approaching at a quicker speed than she was previously pulling off.

Before she knew it, she did it. She finally caught Daisy and tackled her with all her might, sending her stumbling into Luigi as they both fell to the ground, Peach claimed the ball, and Mario applauded.

"Whoa, good job!" Daisy complimented as she pressed down on Luigi's face with her hand to sit herself up on top of his stomach. "I didn't think you had it in you!" Peach smiled sheepishly as a light blush came to her cheeks. Mario stepped forward and shared a high five with her as well as a proud smile.

"Hey, uh, Daisy?" Luigi spoke up, causing Daisy to look over her shoulder at him. "Mind moving your hand from my face?"

"Oh, sorry Sweetie," Daisy apologized, moving her hand as he asked. Instead, she settled for interlocking her fingers with his and moving his arms out spread eagle, leaning back on his hands and still sitting on his stomach. Luigi didn't particularly mind this, as long as she wasn't using his face. Daisy then observed the pieces of red and green armor piled up on the ground and smiled. "You guys going for the League too?" she asked brightly. Mario nodded in response.

"We just talked to Toadsworth about the rules and everything," Luigi informed, prompting a giggle from Peach.

"There are rules?" she asked, making Daisy laugh as well.

"I know about having to put the ball in the opponent's net," Daisy said, "But I thought everything that went on between those points was all-out war."

"That's how we took it too," Luigi imparted, causing Mario to nod once more. "What we got from it was 'Survive the game' and 'Try to get the most points'. Toadsworth just rambled on and on about ways for the teams to kill each other. I'm pretty surprised he's even going along with this whole thing."

"We pestered him until he agreed," Peach said with a smile. "We've held all kinds of sporting events before, and the people wanted to see a Striker League, so we figured we should give it to them."

"Can't say I'm not excited about it," Luigi said, making Daisy look over her shoulder at him skeptically.

"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know this is a full contact sport right?"

"Of course, why would they give us all this ridiculous armor if it wasn't?" Luigi answered, looking over at the small mound of gear. "I like stuff like tennis and go kart racing too, but being a part of a Striker League is a lot more exciting. And I'm pretty good at it if I may say so myself."

"Is that true Mario?" Peach asked, prompting a shrug as Mario closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side.

"You know I'm good bro," Luigi insisted as Mario smiled at him. "I've even beat you a few times."

"Hmm," Daisy mused, continuing to look at Luigi below her. "Wanna play a match or two then?" she suggested. Luigi shook his head immediately.

"No way, I can't let you see my super secret strategies before the League begins," Luigi refused. Upon hearing this, Daisy removed her hands from Luigi's and stood up, turning to help him to his feet as well.

"Come on Luigi, just a quick game," she asked as sweetly as she could. "Just show me one of your super secret strategies."

Mario chuckled and simply shook his head, making Luigi frown immediately and Peach giggle.

"Of course I have super secret strategies bro," Luigi muttered. "But you wouldn't know about them because they're _super secret_." Mario simply waved his hand as if he were throwing something over his shoulder before grabbing his equipment. Everyone seemed to agree with him that it would probably be best if they started recruiting for their own teams. They only had four weeks to prepare after all, and they had to get the best of the best and teach them the tactics of the Strikers field before then.

With that, the four captains departed the garden in search of their teams for the League. And at the same time, eight other captains around the world that accepted the letter's invitation were doing the same thing. Everyone was readying themselves for the oncoming uphill battle to successfully make it through the Striker League, and, in the end, hopefully win the coveted Striker Cup. However, only one team could claim victory over the rest. Of these twelves teams, which one would be skillful, lucky, or conniving enough to win the ultimate prize? The world would observe this battle royale from the very beginning exactly one month from this day.


	2. Confidence Correction

**C/N: So I had a little bit of fun with this chapter by bringing in an event from Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door. See if you can spot which part is from that game. I think I hid it pretty well. And, as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

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**Chapter 2: "Confidence Correction"**

"Okay Luigi, a good thing to probably remember is to not block the ball with your face," Daisy instructed as she handed Luigi a tissue to stop his bloody nose. Luigi's and Daisy's teams gathered around along with Mario and Peach and their teams, all wondering if Daisy's powerful kick dealt any considerable damage to Luigi upon impact.

It was a week after first receiving their letters, and all four captains managed to wrap up their recruiting. They decided that, for the next three weeks, instead of practicing within their own teams, everyone would train with each other to get ready for the nearing League matches. This being their first meeting for practice, it appeared that only Daisy and Mario knew what they were doing on the field, while Luigi's claims to be a pretty good player were being proven false rather quickly, and Peach was too timid to really play the game as it should be played.

Everyone wore their protective gear now, getting used to the feel in anticipation of having to wear them constantly later on. They didn't seem to do much right now, but Toadsworth claimed that the gear's properties wouldn't activate until they were brought onto the special fields provided for the Tournaments, so, until then, they were nothing more than extra pieces of equipment.

"What happened to being good at this?" Daisy asked with a smile, helping Luigi to his feet as he held the tissue up to his nose. Luigi then let out a small sigh as he looked over at Mario, who was simply smiling back at him.

"Oh alright," he muttered with a nasally voice. "When I said I was good...I meant at the Strikers video game. I've never actually played it for real before now."

"That's what I thought," Daisy said with a chuckle before giving Luigi a soft pat on the cheek. "But don't worry, I'll whip you into shape in no time." With that, she walked by Luigi, now facing his team consisting of a Dry Bones, a Toad, and a Monty Mole. "At least your team's good though," she complimented. "That setup you pulled off earlier was great Toad, and your shot was perfect Monty."

"Thanks," Toad responded with a bright smile. Monty smiled as well, making some kind of noise that Daisy took as a "Thank you".

Luigi began to walk off the large grassy field, looking rather defeated as everyone watched him go. Daisy turned and spotted him before he got too far and called out to him.

"Where are you going Sweetie?" she asked, her smile waning away. "We still have some practice to get out of the way."

"We've been going at it for hours though," Luigi called back without turning around, sounding rather irritated. "Can't we just call it a day?"

Rather surprised by Luigi's suddenly sour mood, Daisy fell still as she watched him leave.

"Well...okay," she muttered, furrowing her eyebrows as she slowly folded her arms. Once she was sure he was out of earshot, she continued on to say, "What's his problem?"

"He's probably losing his confidence," Peach observed, prompting an agreeing nod from Mario. "You two have been practicing for a long time now, but he just can't seem to get into it."

After she finished her sentence, she looked down at the grass, kicking the air as she realized that she felt the same way.

She and Luigi managed to assemble great teams that were exceptional at what they were recruited to do. But, despite being captains, the leaders of their teams, they simply didn't have the heart to put themselves into the correct state of mind to play the game like Mario and Daisy could.

While Daisy wouldn't think twice about slamming into someone if she had to, Peach couldn't bring herself to do it, no matter how hard she tried. While Mario could perform a flawless slide tackle to steal the ball right from his opponent's feet, Luigi ended up getting smacked in the face if he tried to do the same. They both tried and tried for hours that day, but everything seemed to simply go wrong for them. It slowly wore down on their spirits.

If only Peach had the drive or the attitude to make those big hits, or if Luigi had the confidence to perform that slide tackle without worrying about whether it would be successful or not, they could be so much better than they were. Sure, the practice itself was important, but if they couldn't get into the right state of mind come match time, it wouldn't matter. They wouldn't be able to put their hearts into it, and being able to do that was half the battle.

After some discussion, everybody decided it was a good time to head home, since the sun was beginning to set as it was. Packing up their equipment, everyone said their goodbyes, agreeing to meet at the same spot the next day. However, as they departed, Peach thought it may be best if she went to speak with Luigi alone. An idea suddenly sparked in her mind, and she had to share it with him right away.

–

Arriving at the Mario brothers' household at the same time, both Mario and Peach found Luigi resting on a reclined lawn chair in the front yard, having discarded his tissue and changed out of his protective gear. He stared up at the sky without noticing that he was no longer alone.

Peach asked Mario if she and Luigi could talk with one another alone. Mario nodded and walked by his brother, giving a wave as he passed. Luigi muttered a small "Hey" in response and Mario went inside the house, leaving Peach to approach Luigi alone.

She stepped up to his side rather silently, looming over him out of the side of his eye as he gazed upward. Luigi eventually looked over at her, appearing to feel slightly ashamed of himself.

"Are you okay Luigi?" Peach asked, kneeling down to be eye level with him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Luigi sighed. "I was just getting sick of practice earlier. And having Daisy compliment my team and not say anything to me kind of got me down."

"Don't let that get to you," Peach said, trying to comfort him. "You know she just likes to push your buttons sometimes. It usually makes you try harder."

"Yeah, usually," Luigi muttered. "I don't want to have to be pushed to try my best though. I just want to be able to do it all the time. When we practice though, I always second guess every move I'm about to make. Whether to pass to a teammate or keep dribbling the ball, or whether to go for a big hit or a sliding tackle. And no matter what I choose to do, it always feels like the wrong decision."

"I know how you feel," Peach responded. "When I was practicing with Mario, you could probably tell I couldn't get myself to try my best either."

"Think we shouldn't have agreed to do this?" Luigi asked unenthusiastically. Peach gave him a smile while shaking her head.

"I think I know what we can do," Peach said, sitting on the grass as Luigi repositioned himself to sit up on the chair and face her. "We just need to change the way we think about the game. It's like Daisy told me once, 'If you don't play with all your heart behind what you're doing, you may as well sit out. It's like climbing the high dive and never jumping off. Just forget about it and take the plunge.'"

"Well, it's easy to _say_ that," Luigi murmured, resting his head on a hand. "But when game times comes it just feels impossible."

"Which is why I think we should pay a visit to Star Haven," Peach suggested with a smile. Luigi lifted his head back up, raising an eyebrow.

"That place where all the Star Spirits that Mario had to rescue live?" Peach nodded. "Why should we go there?"

"To make wishes by using the Star Rod," Peach answered, lowering her voice a bit to make sure Mario couldn't overhear her. "We can wish for more confidence so we can play more effectively!"

"Wouldn't that kinda be like cheating though?" Luigi asked, making Peach shake her head immediately.

"Of course it's not!" she said quickly. "We're just going to make a wish to change our personalities a bit so we can play without worrying about every move we make. That's not cheating at all."

Luigi remained unconvinced. However, the thought of playing with confidence did seem exciting, and he would definitely enjoy playing more if only he could rid himself of his constant self-doubting.

"Come on Luigi, you know you want to," Peach urged with a nudge and a wink, surprising him quite a bit. Since when did Peach obtain this slightly mischievous nature? It didn't really matter, as Luigi soon found himself agreeing to the plan.

With a vibrant smile, Peach led the way to the warp pipe heading away from the Mario Brothers' household. She descended into the pipe first, followed by Luigi, who, upon gazing back at the house, could see his older brother spying on him through the window, with a smile on his face. Mario soon turned and disappeared further into the house, leaving Luigi to wonder if his brother approved of the action as he sank into the pipe himself.

–

"So he was holding the can of Chuckola Cola, I was keeping the meerkat under control, the girl had passed out on the floor, and the snow outside was nearing three feet high," Muskular the highly energetic blue Star Spirit continued, telling a long-winded story at such a fast pace that hardly any of the other spirits around him could understand what he was saying. "We had to deactivate the bomb or else the house was gonna explode, but-"

Before Muskular could continue any further, Luigi and Peach appeared on the scene, approaching the center of the stars shyly as everyone turned their gazes on them with smiles.

As usual, Star Haven was serene and beautiful, the dark night sky above filled with hundreds upon hundreds of brightly shining stars. The Seven Star Spirits floated in their usual spaces, previously partaking in their usual conversation, Muskular telling another of his farfetched "true" stories that nobody ever bothered to question due to their sheer entertainment value. It was rare they had visitors these days, and, upon witnessing the two humans approaching, Eldstar spoke, welcoming them.

"Why hello Princess Peach, Master Luigi," Eldstar greeted kindly. "What brings you here so late into the night?"

"Hello Star Spirits," Peach greeted, giving a small curtsy. Luigi simply looked around at the Spirits before giving a quick, awkward bow, attempting to follow Peach's formal example. "We've come in hopes of making a wish with the Star Rod." Skolar cleared his throat soon after the request, turning everyone's attention to him.

"I doubt we can simply allow humans to use the Star Rod by request, especially after what happened with that dastardly Bowser and his servant Kammy Koopa," Skolar spoke up.

"Oh Skolar, we can trust these two," Mamar argued, giving a trusting smile to the pair of visitors. "They have proven to be noble people after all."

"I think Skolar has a point myself," Klevar interjected. "The Star Rod is a powerful tool after all. At the very least, we can put these two through a test to make sure they're trustworthy."

"Can it Klevar, we don't need to go through all that," Misstar said. "Just let them use the Star Rod. We all know they won't misuse it."

The dispute between the four Star Spirits continued, Skolar and Klevar insisting on a test of trustworthiness, and Mamar and Misstar pushing to simply let Luigi and Peach use the Rod. Muskular occasionally threw in his two cents, switching from being against the test to being for it every other second, and Kalmar simply sat the conversation out, disliking the fact everyone was arguing in the first place. Meanwhile, Eldstar seemed to contemplate.

After quite a while of indecisiveness, Eldstar finally spoke up, causing the debate to come to a sudden halt.

"I agree with Skolar and Klevar," Eldstar declared to the dismay of Mamar and Misstar. "We must make sure the Star Rod is used only by those worthy of trust and pure in heart. So, I think we should give these two a test." Eldstar now turned his attention to Luigi and Peach, who were watching the event before them idly. "I hope you both understand."

"Of course," Peach said with a smile.

"Sure thing," Luigi agreed. "But how are you gonna test us?"

"With..." Eldstar began as every other Spirit around him slowly disappeared. Eldstar spun in the air as he hopped a few yards away from Luigi and Peach. Two game show booths appeared, one showing up before Eldstar and the other before Luigi and Peach. The background filled with stars suddenly became a vibrant wall with dozens of flashing lights as Eldstar called out, "A pop quiz!"

Confetti fell from the sky, littering the ground with pink and yellow pieces of paper as Luigi looked around, astonished.

"What the!?" he cried. "How did this happen!?"

"I'm...not sure," Peach commented, looking around herself.

"Now it's time for our Quiz Show!" Eldstar continued, recalling Luigi's and Peach's attention. "Answer five questions correctly and you may use the Star Rod! Answer three wrong though, and you will not be allowed to make your wish! Are you ready for the quiz!?"

"Um...sure?" Luigi answered uncertainly. Eldstar spun around quickly, appearing jubilant about being able to host a quiz show.

"Alright, here we go!" he began. "Question One. What is the name of Luigi's brother?"

"Mario!" Peach called out quickly, surprising Luigi quite a bit, as it appeared that Peach was suddenly enjoying this a bit too much.

"That is correct!" Eldstar shouted happily, spinning in the air as a sound effect of five rapid, high pitched dings filled the air. "Just get four more right and you may use the Star Rod! Now then, on to Question Two. What is the name of the princess Luigi set out to rescue in his adventure through the Waffle Kingdom?"

"Princess Eclair," Luigi answered immediately, letting out a small smile as he recalled that particular adventure. Eldstar spun once again as the sound effect for a correct answer played in the background. Peach looked at Luigi with a raised eyebrow.

"Princess Eclair?" she asked skeptically.

"Don't worry, nothing happened between us," Luigi assured, looking away from Peach's accusing glance.

"Question Three," Eldstar continued. "What is the name of the very first Glitz Pit champion?"

Both Luigi and Peach seemed taken aback by the question. Neither of them knew the answer right off the top of their heads, as neither ever even visited Glitzville before. Luigi dug deep into the memories of the stories Mario told him about his adventures in the lands around Rogueport however, and a name soon popped up.

"Um, it was that Rawk Hawk guy wasn't it?" he said, prompting a frown from Eldstar as a low pitched buzzer went off in the background.

"So close, but the correct answer was actually Prince Mush," Eldstar informed as Luigi let out a sigh. "But, you've gotten two questions right and only one wrong so far, so don't lose hope! Now, on to Question Four. There was one adventure in which Mario, Bowser, and you two all traveled together. Throughout the entire journey, there was one Pixl that assisted you nicknamed Tippi. What was Tippi's real name?"

"I know this one!" both Peach and Luigi called out simultaneously. However, after the outburst, both appeared to think deeply, apparently suddenly forgetting what the name was. Thankfully, Peach soon brightened up, a light having clicked on in her head.

"Timpani!" she answered happily as the dinging for a correct answer filled the air.

"That is correct!" Eldstar declared, spinning around once again. "Just two more correct answers to go! I know you can do it! Now, Question Five. What is the name of the Star Kid that assisted Princess Peach during the adventure to retrieve the Star Rod?"

"Twink of course," Peach responded instantly, smiling as memories of the young Star came flowing back to her and Eldstar celebrated another correct answer.

"Just one more correct answer to go!" Eldstar informed happily. "Now, time for Question Six. What ingredients are used to make fruit parfait?" Luigi immediately widened his eyes as multiple answers came to mind.

"Well, there's several ways you can make it," he began, "For more nutrition, you can mix a keel mango with a peachy peach, but for a sweeter and overall better taste, you can mix either honey or maple syrup in with a keel mango, and, if you have it, jammin' jelly could work great in place of-"

"All of those answers are acceptable!" Eldstar cried, spinning around once more as the sound effect for a correct answer played for the final time and pink and yellow confetti littered the air once more. The booths suddenly sank into the ground and the wall of flashing lights completely disappeared. Eldstar hopped back over to his previous position, completing the circle of Star Spirits that were once again present, along with the plethora of stars in the night sky.

Eldstar seemed to drop out of his overly excited state immediately, speaking calmly and softly like normal. "Congratulations," Eldstar said as the Star Rod slowly floated down from the heavens towards the center of the circle. "You have proven yourselves worthy of having a wish be granted by the Star Rod."

The Rod eventually settled in the center of the area, and both Luigi and Peach stepped forward. They each grabbed on to the Rod at arm's length and gave a deep breath before voicing their wish.

"I wish I had more confidence," they both stated simultaneously.

The Rod glowed faintly for several moments, and soon, both Luigi and Peach could feel a lightness in their chests as if their hearts were being lifted. They seemed to lose their breath as this event took place, causing them to breathe slightly heavily as they were brought down from the odd feeling and the Star Rod returned to normal. They both released the Rod, allowing it to ascend into the air once again. Luigi and Peach looked at each other, as if wondering if the other felt any different. However, without noticing, both seemed to bear a different look in their eye. A look that hinted that, where there was uncertainty, there was now the willingness to try.

Peach turned to Eldstar and gave another small curtsy, Luigi giving a bow next to her.

"Thank you," Peach said.

"My pleasure," Eldstar responded with a smile. Peach and Luigi both turned to exit Star Haven as Eldstar made one more statement before they were out of earshot. "Good luck with the Striker League."

The pair stopped in their tracks and turned to face the elderly Star Spirit.

"You know about the League?" Luigi asked, prompting nods from every single Spirit.

"Of course."

"We've been looking forward to it!"

"We'll be watching."

"Cool," Luigi said with a smile as he and Peach resumed their walk.

"I hope they cheer for us," Peach added.

The pair walked in silence for quite a while before either of them spoke again.

"I didn't know you knew how to make fruit parfait," Peach commented. Luigi shrugged in response.

"When you're stuck at home all the time, you tend to get bored," he explained. "I'm pretty good at cooking and sweets make good comfort foo-... I mean, Mario always likes some kind of sweet when he gets home from his adventures."

Peach couldn't help but giggle before giving Luigi a pat on the back. Luigi himself scratched the back of his head, feeling rather embarrassed by the slip of his tongue.

–

The next morning, everyone seemed to notice some kind of change in Luigi and Peach. Daisy and the recruited teams didn't seem to know what the difference was, but Mario appeared to know what was going on, simply smiling as he watched his younger brother strut onto the field with his team, looking quite battle-ready.

Daisy entered the field as well, placing the ball directly in the center as her team got into place behind her. She took a few steps back to put a fair distance between herself and the ball before speaking to Luigi.

"Hope you're feeling better today," she called, still sounding faintly irritated about Luigi's abrupt exit the previous day. Luigi smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry about that Daisy," he responded rather cheerfully. "I'm feeling better than ever today though." This made Daisy smile, putting on her game face as her remaining irritation was replaced with her competitive fire.

"Good to hear," she tossed back. "Because you're goin' down." Luigi chuckled, furrowing his eyebrows playfully as he shuffled his feet in place.

"Come on," he taunted confidently, waving his fingers toward himself as if inviting Daisy to give him some competition. Daisy found herself chuckling as well. This new attitude Luigi was sporting was a rather nice change of pace.

From the sidelines, Mario lifted a whistle tied around his neck to his lips. He waited a few seconds, allowing both teams to get into their right minds to play, and blew into the whistle loudly, making Luigi and Daisy dash for the ball immediately.

Thanks to her natural speed, Daisy managed to reach the ball first, but, to her surprise as well as everyone else's, Luigi performed a smooth slide tackle that tripped her up and relieved her of the ball at the same time. Falling to the ground and witnessing Luigi running toward the goal, Daisy immediately got back to her feet and ran off towards him.

The Birdo on Daisy's team went in to tackle Luigi with a big hit, only to have him deke out of the line of the fire in the nick of time. Daisy soon followed up Birdo's tackle attempt with her own, managing to knock Luigi clear off his feet, but not before he made a clever backward pass to Toad who was near the center of the field.

Facing the immediate threat of Daisy's Birdo, Toad passed off the ball to Dry Bones, who received it near Luigi's Kritter goalkeeper. Dry Bones ran forward a few steps before being confronted by Daisy's Boo. Dry Bones quickly rolled itself up into a tight ball and disappeared as Boo went in for a sliding tackle, reappearing behind the Boo and passing the ball off to Monty Mole.

Monty dribbled the ball for a time, soon coming upon Daisy's Koopa. The two stood off for a time as Monty contemplated passing the ball and Koopa thought about going in for a tackle. Soon, the Koopa decided a big hit would be necessary and lunged forward to smack Monty out of the way. Reacting quickly, Monty simply disappeared into the ground, reemerging with great force to launch the Koopa high into the air before continuing the dribble the ball.

Now Birdo was on the case once again, coming close to Monty and diving in for a big hit. Monty managed to lob a pass over Birdo's head, aiming for Luigi, who was slowly making his way to Kritter's goalie box in anticipation. Daisy was on him tightly however, and soon went in for a hit while Luigi wasn't looking.

However, as if sheerly feeling that Daisy were about to tackle him, Luigi gave a backflip into the air, causing the opposing captain to simply throw herself onto the ground as she missed. With the ball coming near, Luigi landed before making a more powerful leap, meeting the ball as it fell and kicking it with all his might at Daisy's goalkeeper, who miscalculated the speed of the hit and jumped into the line of fire a little too late, allowing the ball to sail by and score a point for Luigi.

Coming down for another landing, Luigi headed back for his side of the field with a smile on his face. On the way back, Monty Mole came up to his side pointing at him with both index fingers as if giving him props. Luigi returned the gesture, passing the compliment back while saying "Thank you very much."

Daisy and her team couldn't help but stare at Luigi in astonishment as he retreated. However, despite sacrificing a goal to him, Daisy couldn't help but smile.

"Man, he's a lot better than yesterday," Koopa mentioned as he helped Daisy to her feet. Daisy stood and folded her arms, smiling brightly at the opposing captain.

"Yeah..." she muttered in admiration. "He is..." Daisy made her way back to the center of the field and Kritter threw her the ball. She caught it, but instead of placing on the ground, she held it under her arm as she stared at Luigi for a while. Before long, she walked over to him, maintaining her smile as he watched her approach. She was soon standing mere feet from him.

"How'd you get so good at this Mister?" she asked quietly in a playful voice, putting a hand on her hip as she did so. Luigi chuckled for a moment, giving a small shrug.

"I just realized I needed to be a little more confident," he answered, making Daisy give him a friendly nudge on the shoulder.

"Well keep it up," she said. "I like this new you."

Luigi couldn't help but blush as he gazed over to Mario and Peach on the sidelines. They were both smiling at him, proud that he was finally able to play the game with confidence.


	3. Inauguration Ceremony

**A/N: This chapter turned out a fair bit shorter than the previous two. I felt the need to speed things up a bit to keep up the excited feel I was trying to maintain as I went along, so hopefully it doesn't detract from the storytelling too much. Anyway, please, read and enjoy.**

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**Chapter 3: "Inauguration Ceremony"**

"This is so **_awesome!!_**" Bowser Jr. shouted excitedly, looking out of the blimp's lowered hatch at the ground far below.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr., and Petey Piranha were all gathered within the large blimp, floating above the stadium they would soon be jumping down into. All twelve were the chosen captains for the competition, and most of them appeared quite excited about the events that were to take place that day.

After nearly a month of practice and special training for entering the stadiums and growing accustomed to their quirks, everyone was gathered for the long-awaited inauguration. They were suspended over The Vice, the most standard of all the stadiums, which wasn't saying much for normalcy.

The spectators' seats extended nearly six hundred feet into the air, all of which carried an occupant, making the total audience count come out to be somewhere around two hundred thousand individuals, a truly staggering amount that nobody even thought possible to hold in one place. It was obvious that the denizens of the Mushroom World were enthusiastic about this league, for there had never been such a dramatic attendance rate for any previous sporting event.

"And then I'm gonna be like 'Haha! Loser!'" Wario said to Waluigi, explaining how he was going to enter the stadium at the beginning of matches. Waluigi snickered, waving a hand as if dismissing Wario's idea altogether.

"Please, you're just gonna fall on your face," he muttered back, causing Wario to jump up and smack him on the back of the head.

"Shut up, it's gonna be awesome."

"Whatever," Waluigi retorted, kicking Wario away nonchalantly with his lanky legs.

The two soon broke out in a small fight as Petey Piranha slept soundly nearby, thoroughly expressing that he did not care.

Meanwhile, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were all playing around with a regulation Striker ball that Diddy brought onto the blimp with him. They performed various tricks with the ball as they passed it between each other. Before long, Daisy decided to join in their game, becoming a welcome addition as she performed moves that served to impress all three of the other captains.

Only one voice could be heard throughout the blimp, and that was Bowser Jr., becoming quite antsy as he gazed at the stadium below excitedly.

"Can I jump yet Dad!?" Junior asked. Bowser looked up from his pamphlet momentarily, glancing at his son who was eagerly waiting to depart at the edge of the hatch. Bowser himself appeared to be rather fatigued, no doubt thanks to fact he's had to put up with his energetic son for the duration of training for the league.

"No Junior," Bowser answered frankly, returning his attention to the pamphlet.

Several seconds passed in silence.

"Can I jump now Dad!?"

"No Junior," Bowser answered again without looking away from his pamphlet.

And a few more seconds passed in silence.

"How about now Dad!?" Bowser looked over for a second time.

"Junior, just calm down for a while alright," he commanded. "I'll tell you when you can jump, but now's not the time." At this, Junior finally gave up and retreated into the blimp, sat down, and began grumbling to himself. Bowser returned to his pamphlet and sighed. "I teach him to walk and talk just so I can tell him to sit down and shut up."

Mario, Luigi, and Peach were sitting opposite of Bowser, looking through pamphlets as well. The small booklets detailed the order of events that would be going on during the inauguration and the rules of the game.

"I'm still not sure why they want us to jump out of this blimp," Luigi said, mostly to himself.

"It's all just for the glitz and glamor," Peach responded, Mario nodding next to her. "We're not just playing a game, we're putting on a show for the people too."

"Well, I'm glad they gave us this special equipment then," Luigi said, admiring his cleats and shin guards. "Without this stuff, a fall like that would kinda kill us."

"Not me and Papa!" Bowser Jr. suddenly spoke up, eavesdropping on the conversation. This caused the trio to look over at him, as well as Bowser, who let out another sigh. "We don't need any of that dorky equipment to keep us safe like you losers!"

Without warning, the ball that the quartet of captains were playing with in the rear of the blimp came flying at the back of Junior's head, knocking him out of his sitting position to fall face first into the floor.

"Oops, my bad," Daisy snickered as the ball returned to her after ricocheting off Junior's head. Junior quickly gathered himself, getting to his feet as he whipped around to face Daisy, who already had her back turned to him.

"You'll be sorry you did that when my dad gets a hold of you!" he fumed, balling his hands into tiny fists with anger. When several seconds passed and the only noises that could be heard were the grunts of the still-quarreling Wario and Waluigi and the snoring of Petey Piranha, Bowser Jr. turned to face his father, who he was expected to get up and go teach Daisy a lesson. However, Bowser was simply reading his pamphlet, pretending not to have seen or heard a thing. Junior growled angrily and muttered to himself as he walked to the edge of the platform area, dropped himself down into a seat, and folded his arms in a huff.

"_And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for!"_

Until now, the ceremony taking place within the stadium was completely silent, for the blimp was too far up to be able to hear what was going on. An intercom within the blimp switched on just as the announcer said this sentence however, alerting everyone to get ready to make their big entrance.

Donkey Kong, Diddy, Yoshi, and Daisy discontinued their game, headed for the hatch and leaving their ball behind, joining Mario, Peach, Luigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. at the edge, looking downward as they waited for their cue to take the leap.

Meanwhile, Wario and Waluigi ended there fight with several weak pushes, grumbling at each other as they headed off to join the rest of the group. Before going too far though, Wario stopped, noticing Petey was still sleeping. He approached the snoring Piranha Plant and smacked him on the back of the head, making him wake up immediately.

"Come on stupid, we're about to go," Wario rudely informed, leaving Petey behind as he went to join the others at the hatch. Petey took a moment to somehow glare at Wario despite having a large helmet over his eyeless head, thinking of all the terrible things he could do right then and there. But, moments later, he simply fell back asleep, withdrawing into a cocoon of closed flower petals as he did so.

"_Please put your hands together for your Striker captains!!"_

"Waahoo!" Mario yelled excitedly, being the first to jump off the blimp, quickly followed by Bowser, letting out a roar and forcing himself into his competitive spirit. "Let's-a go!" Luigi called out as well as he dived, followed by a "Yeah!" from Daisy and Peach, jumping at the same time behind him. Donkey Kong and Diddy banged their chests, letting out cries as they jumped alongside Yoshi, calling out his own name upon taking the leap. Junior laughed mischievously, getting over his sour mood immediately as he was finally allowed to jump. Waluigi literally dived as if he were headed for a pool, screaming the entire time, and Wario began humming to a song playing through his head as he departed.

Moments later, a Toad and a Koopa climbed down a ladder in the very back of the blimp, near the area the four captains were previously practicing their footwork. They looked around the area, noticing it was now empty, and began to walk over to a small red button situated on a post nearby.

"Looks like all the captains are out," the Koopa reported through a microphone attached to a headset.

"_Okay, go ahead and close the hatch,"_ a voice ordered from the other end of the conversation.

"Roger," the Koopa said before pressing the button. The hatch slowly began to close when the Toad appeared suddenly distressed.

"Wait, what's that over there?" he mentioned, pointing at Petey's idle pod. The Koopa glanced over, his eyes widening immediately.

"Oh shoot, that's Petey Piranha," he said with a sigh. "Come on, we need to get him out of here before the hatch closes."

The pair quickly ran over to the pod and started pushing with all their might. Eventually, they managed to topple it onto its side, making it a rather unceremonious event of kicking it in the side to let it roll cleanly out of the hatch just before it fully closed. The pair turned to each other, all smiles.

"High five!" they both called out happily, slapping five as they did so, followed by a knuckle touch, elbow bump, butt bounce, and ankle kick. They soon climbed back up the ladder to view the rest of the ceremony through a projected screen in the cabin above the departure deck.

As they looked on, they could see every captain land one by one on the ground below, forming a surprisingly accurate line at they did so.

The crowd went absolutely wild when Mario was the first to appear on the scene, coming down to a perfect landing before waving at the crowds with a single hand, smiling brightly as he did so. And even as Bowser landed right next to him, breathing fire to make himself recognized, the crowds continued to cheer raucously.

Most everyone made a rather clean landing, Luigi managing to come in just as smoothly as his brother and both princesses coming down flawlessly. Bowser Jr. came in soon after, choosing to land on his shell as he went into a rather stylish spin, coming out of it as if he were lying on his side, relaxing and giving a cocky smile. Yoshi landed well, waving to his fans just as Mario did, and was soon followed by Diddy and Donkey Kong, who both pounded into the ground with their fists, Donkey Kong managing to show off his impressive strength much more than Diddy could. And even Waluigi, as he dived headfirst, managed to land on his feet perfectly, giving a strongman pose by extending one arm diagonally into the air while retracting the other close to his chest before waving both hands in the air, absorbing the cheers into his narcissistic character.

Wario was almost the last to land, and, as Waluigi expected, he fell flat on his face, too busy humming the tune in his head to realize that he was already in the stadium. With a grunt, Wario peeled himself off the ground before proceeding to wave just like Waluigi did, pretending not to have made an utter fool of himself.

Everyone took in the cheers of the rampaging crowd, feeling empowered as the sheer energy from all of the excited noise invaded them. Meanwhile, the Toad announcer, taking a quick head count of the captains from a distance, noticed there was still one missing. He rubbed the back of his cap as he noticed a circular shadow growing directly under where he was standing. He looked up and his eyes widened immediately before he dived out of the way, Petey crashing into the ground where the Toad was standing just moments ago, sticking himself into it roughly. The Toad looked over as Petey emerged from his protective bulb slowly, yawning and looking around, appearing confused about his surroundings.

"_What a spectacular entrance folks!"_ the announcer shouted into a headset microphone as he stood back up, his voice filled with excitement. _"You know them, you love some of them, and here they are to play the game! Say hello to our Strikeeeerrrr caaaaptaaaains!!"_

As the announcer said those final two words, the crowd seemed to shout out one giant, collective "YEAH!!" The announcer let the audience continue to make their noise uninterrupted, listening to his headset closely for his cue to introduce Toadsworth to carry through the inauguration ceremony.

It was several seconds before he heard _"Cue Toadsworth."_ through his headset. He nodded and soon stepped in front of the line of captains, standing off to the far right, close to Petey. He turned to face the twelve Strikers and soon lifted both hands into the air, as if asking for silence. Of course, the audience hardly noticed, but the overall noise quieted down a bit at least.

"_And now introducing our sponsor, the head of the Striker League Committee, please welcome Mister Toadsworth!!"_ he announced. The slightly quieted crowd picked up the volume once more as Toadsworth floated into the stadium atop a Lakitu cloud, circling around the area once as he descended to rest in front of the lined captains, floating slightly above them on the cloud. Nearly every captain immediately stood completely still, as if facing a drill sergeant in a military line-up. Wario was too busy picking his nose to notice Toadsworth was there, and even when he did come to the realization, he simply folded his arms, just as Waluigi did.

Toadsworth cleared his throat in his usual gentlemanly manner, the sound being amplified across the stadium as the crowd controlled their noise rather well, falling silent almost immediately.

"_Welcome one and all to this very auspicious inaugural event to support our twelve brave, talented individuals and their forty-eight equally as talented teammates," _Toadsworth announced. Upon mention of the forty-eight equally as talented teammates, the four supporting members of every captain's team ran out onto the field, gathering behind their respective captains as the crowd applauded their entrance. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi appeared to be the only captains to acknowledge that their teams were there, turning to smile and greet them shortly before returning their attention to Toadsworth.

"_We are here today to witness the beginning of what is sure to be a sporting event for the ages,"_ Toadsworth continued. _"These twelve teams will duke it out on this very field, as well as nine others with their very own obstacles and dangers to overcome. They all share common goals: to be the holders of the Fire Cup, the Crystal Cup, and the coveted Striker Cup!"_

The crowd couldn't seem to contain itself as Toadsworth listed off the cups, causing him to raise his voice as well as his excitement as he spoke. The speech seemed to lighten the chests of the some of the captains as well, anxious to begin the league and go for the cups. Others snickered, rather confident that they were going to sweep up the competition with ease. And one was simply fighting not to fall asleep.

"_Teams, are you ready to make your way through the ranks?"_ Toadsworth spoke up again once the crowd was able to quiet down several seconds later. _"To try your hardest and celebrate with good show and manner when you achieve victory? And to express sportsmanship and humbly accept in times of defeat?"_

The twelve teams answered positively in their own different ways as the crowd's volume slowly began to escalate once more. Before they could get much louder however, Toadsworth spoke.

"_Then it is my great pleasure to announce that the Strikers League officially begins with the first match of the season to be played on this very field exactly one hour from now!"_ Toadsworth announced excitedly, receiving a booming cheer from the audience as they began stomping their feet on the floor, making a thunderous noise as the entire stadium vibrated under the immense pressure.

"_The first match of the season will feature Princess Daisy up against Bowser Jr.!" _Toadsworth confirmed through the noise. _"They will return to the field in one hour! Until then, please enjoy the shows and festivities provided for your entertainment!"_

With that, Toadsworth floated up into the air once again, waving goodbye as the captains and their teams turned to retreat to the locker rooms. Daisy and Bowser Jr. were the final two captains remaining, along with their scattered teams, who began to leave, but stopped upon noticing that the two were lingering behind.

Daisy and Junior were staring each other down, Daisy holding a cocky smirk and folding her arms as Junior glared and growled at her. The two began to exit the field simultaneously, walking directly across from each other at a fair distance. Observing this, their teams decided to go ahead and continue on their way to the locker rooms. The two walked rather slowly however, never breaking their stares even once.

"_You're going down,"_ Bowser Jr. mouthed, smacking a balled hand into his fist. Daisy appeared to snicker.

"_I'd like to see you try,"_ she mouthed back. The two hardly even knew each other, but it was already apparent they would be bitter rivals throughout the competition. And Junior swore that he would make Daisy feel sorry for mocking him back on the blimp.


	4. Battle in the Vice

**A/N: Just so you know, for anyone who hasn't played the game before, if anyone on either team gets tackled while they're not in possession of the ball, the team that the attacked player is on gets an item to use during the match. Just wanted to clear that up, since I use that element in this chapter, and will be using it in the future. Anyway, read on and I hope you enjoy.**

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**Chapter 4: "Battle in the Vice"**

Junior's team consisting of a Hammer Bro, a Boo, a Dry Bones, and a Kritter goalie all passed a regulation ball between each other, practicing strategies to keep their morale and energy high in anticipation of the upcoming match. However, Junior decided not to participate, choosing to sit on a bench in a corner of the locker room, glaring at Daisy with furrowed brows as she spoke to Peach excitedly about being in the first match of the season.

Bowser Jr. watched the two women, slumping his shell back against the wall as he rested one arm on a bent leg while letting the other hang off the side of the bench. Daisy seemed to know he was watching her, and she would occasionally taunt him by giving him cocky smirks whenever Peach looked away. Every overly confident glance only served to flare Junior's angry spirit even more.

After a while, Yoshi wandered over nearby Junior, visiting his locker to put away his cleats in exchange for his regular pair of leather boots. As he closed the locker, he noticed Junior's spiteful look and decided to find out what was wrong. He moved over next to Bowser Jr. and took a seat, attracting the young Koopa's attention.

"What do you want?" Junior spat, resting his head against the locker to his right as he stared at Yoshi disdainfully.

"Yoshi?" Yoshi asked, making Bowser Jr. scoff.

"Psh, like you care," he scoffed directing his gaze back at Daisy.

"Yoshi," Yoshi said, sounding slightly concerned for him.

"Don't try to pretend we're friends here 'buddy'," Junior responded, glancing back at Yoshi. "I don't need you crowding me, so mind your own business."

Yoshi grumbled slightly as he hopped off the bench, looking more defeated than annoyed as Junior shut him out completely. Junior didn't care that he may have hurt Yoshi's feelings and soon went back to staring down Daisy, who he found was staring right back at him now, having ended her conversation with her friend. Her eyes were half-closed as she wore her smirk, appearing to condescend Junior without even speaking to him.

If anything, Junior felt like the victim here. Daisy was the one who shot the ball at the back of his head, and now she was acting as if he was no threat to her whatsoever. It was infuriating how demeaning the entire act was. Especially considering that Junior himself was the one who usually demeaned people in the first place. Having it happen to him was unbearable.

"_See you on the field,"_ Daisy mouthed, giving a thumbs up as she kept her look. She slowly turned the sign on its side and continued to invert it until it was upside down. _"Loser."_

Daisy snickered as she put the hand on her hip and walked away haughtily. Steam literally flew from Bowser Jr.'s ears as he pounded the locker next to him with a fist, denting it rather harshly. He scowled and brought the hand back to himself, folding his arms.

"She's gonna get it..." he grumbled with an evil tone. "Nobody messes with me..."

–

Before long, it was game time. Daisy and Bowser Jr. assembled their teams to prepare to head out into field, standing on opposite sides of the field just inside the large arches allowing them to head out. At Daisy's side stood Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong, all wishing her and her teammates good luck out on the field. On Junior's side was his father, attempting to psyche him up in preparation to head out and annihilate Daisy. Yoshi happened to appear on Junior's side too, giving his well wishes for his first match. However, Bowser Jr. saw Yoshi doing the same for Daisy just moments ago, so he simply disregarded the kind thought.

"Alright Junior, make Papa proud," Bowser encouraged as he patted his son on the back of the shell, the announcer, who was floating on a Lakitu cloud, having just called out Junior's name, indicating it was time to head out into the field.

Bowser Jr. and his team were met with mostly "Boo"s as they ran out into the field. The Boo and the Dry Bones didn't seem to mind, but the Hammer Bro could be seen sweating nervously.

"I knew trying out for this team wasn't the greatest idea..." he muttered with a sigh.

Junior didn't seem to hear anything though, as his focus was deadset on Daisy, who was already at the center of the field with her own team, smirking as she heard the "Boo"s and witnessed Junior make his way towards her.

Bowser Jr. stopped several feet away from her. He immediately began to stomp angrily in place as he let out a series of incredibly anticlimactic growls, followed by a puff of smoke erupting from his mouth that was meant to be an intimidating breath of fire. Daisy couldn't help but burst out in laughter as she witnessed this.

"That was so cute!" she called out as she bent over and grabbed her stomach, her laughter overtaking her. After a short while, she was able to contain herself, reducing the laughter to mere giggles. "Poor little guy, trying to be all big and bad like your daddy?"

"Shut up!" was all Junior could shout back in response over all the noise surrounding them, as most of the crowd, Daisy's entire team, the Boo and Kritter on his own team, and even the announcer were caught up in laughter at his pathetic display. Junior's right eye twitched as his cheeks flushed a furious red. He'd never felt so embarrassed and insulted in his life.

"_Now now, calm down everyone,"_ the announcer's projected voice called out over the stadium, though he was still having trouble getting over his fit of chuckles. _"We must get the first match of the League started! So give your support to our battling teams, sit back, and enjoy the grand finale of the inauguration ceremony!_

"_Princess Daisy! Bowser Jr.! Good luck to the both of you and to your teams! Now please, everyone assume your positions!"_

Following orders, the Kritters on both teams occupied their goalie boxes; Daisy's Kritter being on the left, Junior's on the right. In the defensive positions near the goalie boxes were Daisy's Koopa and Junior's Dry Bones, the offensive positions containing Daisy's Boo on the north side and Birdo on the south side, Junior's Boo on the north side and Hammer Bro on the south, all standing exactly halfway between the central line where the ball rested and their goalkeeper's boxes. Both Daisy and Bowser Jr. stood exactly twenty feet from the ball and the announcer began to float high up into the air. The opposing captains got ready to make their dash for the ball as the entire stadium fell silent.

The announcer, viewing from high in the air, lifted a whistle hanging from his neck to his lips and simply held it there for several seconds, making sure everyone was ready to start. Once it was evident both sides were prepared to begin, he blew into the whistle, sounding it all over the stadium in one shrill squeak, and both captain's immediately began their dash for the ball.

Thanks to her speed, Daisy got to it first, but initiated a slide tackle as she brought the ball into her possession, tripping up Junior who was running his hardest to get to the ball first. The young Koopa fell flat on his face as Daisy simply dribbled the ball a ways forward before she was met by the Dry Bones. It came in for a big hit right away, but Daisy masterfully spun out of the way, keeping possession of the ball and making herself wide open, for the Boo was already on the opposite side of the field and the Hammer Bro, despite running as fast as he could, was simply moving too slow to catch up to her.

Now Daisy headed straight for Junior's Kritter, who was guarding at the very boundary of his box. As Daisy persisted her oncoming run, Kritter decided to take a gamble and step out to tackle her. It proved to be a mistake however, for Daisy suddenly gave a small spin in place as Kritter lunged forward to take her down. He was only met with air, for Daisy completely disappeared and reappeared merely inches behind him. She quickly shot the ball into the wide open net, scoring the first goal of the game within mere seconds.

"Haha, whoo!" she shouted happily in celebration, pumping a fist into the air as the crowd erupted in cheers for her while she ran back to her own side of the field. Junior was utterly dumbfounded as he witness this however, his jaw dropping almost to the ground.

"Oh come _on!_" he muttered angrily as he approached Kritter. "What are you _doing!?_ Let that happen again and you'll have to deal with my dad!"

Kritter suddenly gained a fearful look in his eye as he shook his head, apparently thinking about Bowser bearing down on him in his anger. Junior stepped into the goal and grabbed the ball angrily, muttering to himself as he headed back to the center of the field.

He settled the ball down in front of him and stood over it, for it was now in his possession since Daisy just scored a point. As he readied himself, the whistle blew once more, and Junior immediately passed the ball over to his Boo before running forward himself. His Hammer Bro proceeded to advance as well while the Boo withdrew toward the the Dry Bones, being chased by Daisy's Boo as well as Daisy herself.

In an attempt to help its teammate out of the tight situation, the Dry Bones roughly tackled Daisy, sending her straight into the surrounding electrical fence. A number of members in the audience winced as Daisy let out a shrill shriek, the electricity coursing through her body as a green shell faintly appeared to float down and absorb itself into her. She fell to the ground limply, unable to move for the time being while Junior's Boo out-floated hers.

However, it wasn't long at all before Daisy's Boo shot out the large, newly-granted green shell, aimed directly at the opposing Boo. Unfortunately for it, its attempted pass wasn't quick enough, and the ball was left completely unguarded as Junior's Boo was flattened into the ground. Seeing the opportunity, Birdo swooped in and scooped the ball into her nozzle, appearing to charge up for a powerful shot towards Junior's goalie. His Dry Bones ran over to try and take down Birdo before she could make her move, but Daisy's Boo promptly tackled him out of the way, granting Junior's team a banana to utilize, but also leaving Birdo a wide open shot.

Soon, a giant egg, roughly double the size of Birdo herself, shot forth, flying straight for the readied Kritter. However, he didn't even have a chance of blocking the shot, as the egg simply mowed him down and continued into the net before shattering into pieces to reveal the ball.

Now Daisy's team was ahead two to nothing, and Junior couldn't be more furious about it. He let out an aggravated growl as he ran over to Daisy's goalpost and kicked it with all his might in an attempt to let out his anger. However, the idea immediately proved not to be his brightest and he soon hopped on one foot while holding the other, having crushed his big toe.

Daisy's Kritter, as well as a good amount of the crowd, couldn't help but laugh as Junior wobbled his way back to the center of the field. Not only was he losing by two points barely half a minute into the game, but he wasn't failing at making a fool of himself in the process. With a grumble as he looked around at everyone laughing at him, including, of course, Daisy, Junior caught the ball once Kritter tossed it over to him from the goalie box. He knelt down to set it on the grass in front of him when something caught his eye.

Junior looked over to his right where his father was observing the match from underneath the arch. Bowser was signaling to his son, making jumping motions and opening his mouth wide as if screaming. Little did he know that just feet behind him, Wario and Waluigi were silently miming the movements, having a good time mocking the Koopa King without his notice. Junior knew what his father was trying to say though, and soon, a small smirk came across his lips.

"You're gonna regret messing with me," Junior commented confidently to Daisy, despite the fact that some of the audience was still laughing at him. Daisy raised an eyebrow, but kept her smirk. She chose not to respond however, mostly due to the fact that she couldn't, since the whistle blared once more, prompting Junior to turn and call out "MS!" to his teammates.

The two letters apparently served as some kind of signal, for Junior's team suddenly grouped in front of him as he moved back behind them, forming a kind of wall as if to protect him. Daisy and her team didn't seem to know how to react to this strategy, for Junior was largely an offensive type of player and seeing something like this from him was something of a surprise. However, the odd strategy didn't deter Birdo from trying to break through with her sheer tackling power. However, she was countered by Junior's Dry Bones, who was able to use the same amount of power in return, thus causing them both to recoil in pain for a moment and granting both teams a new item: a mushroom for Junior and three bananas for Daisy.

Observing the formation, Daisy instructed her Boo and her Koopa to advance around both edges of the small wall, pulling away Junior's Boo and his Hammer Bro, leaving only the Dry Bones to guard him from the front. However, she soon discovered that, after barely passing the midfield line, Bowser Jr. simply stopped while the Dry Bones and Birdo duked it out once again, granted Daisy's team a set of three red shells now, but nothing to Junior's team. He appeared to be charging up for a powerful kick and Daisy knew what he was up to right away.

After a few seconds of charging up, Junior kicked the ball straight up into the air with all his might, causing it to fly at a rapid pace. He now bent down, appearing to focus all of his strength into his legs. Seeing that she wouldn't get to him in time to tackle him and interrupt the move, Daisy sacrificed the three red shells, which flew out for the Dry Bones, the Hammer Bro, and Bowser Jr. himself.

However, as the ground beneath him began to shake with all of the gathered energy contained in the soles of his feet, Junior suddenly shot up, making his gravity-defying leap just in time to let the red shell pass harmlessly by, re-aiming itself at his previously safe Boo nearby.

Everyone in the stadium, including all the players, seemed to stop and look up at the young Koopa with awe as he rocketed toward the launched ball, even bypassing the announcer, who was almost high enough in the air to be considered outside of the stadium. Daisy silently muttered to herself disdainfully as she could only watch helplessly, waiting for Junior to finish his move.

The entire sky seemed to turn a dark green as Junior extended his stubby limbs as far as he could. His hands emitted a matching green glow as his head seemed to expand slightly. Before anyone knew what was going on though, Junior let out a scream loud enough to make every single person present cover their ears in pain. The noise was so powerful that sound waves escaped the small Koopa's frame, propelling the metallic orb forward as it cracked and split into six different balls, all flying directly at Daisy's goalie.

Kritter tried his best to recover from the shock of the deafening sound and prepared himself for the oncoming barrage, clapping together his gloved hands in anticipation.

"You got this Kritter!" Daisy shouted over in an attempt to encourage him to block as many of the orbs as he could. The goalie gave a quick nod before letting out a battle cry, indicating he was ready.

A dive to the left, and a ball shattered to pieces as it collided with his extended glove. A hop back to the center of the net and the second disappeared as well, being successfully blocked. A jumping swipe followed by a slide to the right stopped the next two balls while a kick at a lower one shattered the fifth. With the final ball in his sights, Kritter simply placed a hand forward and slow it down to a stop, curling his arm as he rested the final projectile underneath his armpit. The crowd went into an uproar and Daisy whooped and hollered in excitement as Kritter extended both arms upward victoriously, carrying the ball in one hand.

"Kritter!!" he shouted out. "Haha!"

Before long, the entire audience began to chant Kritter's name as Junior came down for his landing, glaring at the goalie incredulously.

"How the heck did he block all six of them!?" he exclaimed angrily, stamping his foot into the ground repeatedly in his frustration.

Bowser Jr.'s team obviously didn't expect Kritter to block all six shots either, for they were still staring at him in awe as he threw the ball out to Daisy, who passed it over to Boo near the center line immediately. Immediately after receiving it, Boo lobbed the ball over to Koopa who stood just beyond the center. He already jumped to receive the ball, made his landing, and began charging up a shot before anyone realized the ball had made its way over to him.

Junior's entire team immediately ran over to him in a panicked attempt to relieve him of the ball, Dry Bones even using the mushroom to grant him an extra boost of speed. However, none of them made it in time, allowing him to kick the ball with incredible power. It curved dramatically as it approached Junior's Kritter, who could hardly see the ball past all the commotion of the team running to get to the Koopa. Because of this, he hadn't enough time to predict its path and missed the flying ball completely as it swerved around him and crashed into the net beyond, scoring a third point for Daisy's team only a minute and a half into the game. And by now, Junior was throwing a tirade.

"_I can't believe this! You're all completely useless! Why do I have to deal with such a crappy team!? GRRRR!!" _Just feet away from the childishly angry display, Koopa was running back to his side of the stadium, waving to the audience as fans cheered him on for scoring the goal.

Junior's Hammer Bro watched on as Daisy's Koopa was greeting with smiles and high fives upon returning to his team. He sighed once he looked back at his own captain, raging on about how he was the only one with any skill on the team. It was apparent that the rest of the game wouldn't be easy, and that after the match was done, things weren't going to be pretty.

–

"_Princess Daisy shuts Bowser Jr. out with a 6-0 win! Great start for the leader of our friendly neighbors, but results bring dark clouds to the son of the dreaded Koopa King!"_

"Woohoo!" Daisy cried out jubilantly upon entering the locker room with her team after the game came to a close. "Great job you guys; we totally dominated out there!"

All of the team members traded high fives as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Diddy, Donkey Kong, and all of their teams approached, clapping their hands with smiles on their faces. Diddy and Donkey Kong let out cries indicating how happy they were for Daisy while Luigi and Peach stepped forward a bit.

"You all did fantastic out there," Peach complimented.

"You did great Daisy," Luigi commented at the same time. Koopa, Kritter, and Boo all blushed at Peach's statement while Daisy stepped forward and accepted a hug from Luigi.

"Thanks Sweetie," she said happily as her sweaty and smelly body made Luigi cringe slightly at the touch. For a second he regretted inviting her into the embrace, but she soon separated herself from him, apparently just realizing how drenched she was from all the activity underneath the blaring stadium lights.

"Ugh, I need a shower bad," she mentioned, making Luigi refrain from nodding as he silently agreed with her. Completely out of nowhere, Waluigi's lanky leg extended and planted itself right next to Daisy, pulling his body behind it immediately. He smirked as Daisy and Luigi glanced over at him.

"I could use a shower too, hehe," Waluigi said, raising at eyebrow suggestively at Daisy. Luigi went to say something in return, but Daisy quickly handled the situation with a swift and subtle punch to Waluigi's gut, making him double over instantly.

"Not on your life sport," Daisy commented, refusing to let Waluigi bring down her joyous mood. The blow seemed to completely wind Waluigi, for he fell over on the ground as Daisy and her team walked by him, headed for the showers. The other captains and their teams removed themselves from the site as well, leaving Waluigi to groan quietly to himself. Before long though, Wario came by, chuckling.

"Loser," he muttered as he walked by nonchalantly. Waluigi would have replied, but after ten seconds, he still couldn't breathe. Daisy really packed quite a punch.

At the same time, on the other side of the stadium, Junior was busy chewing out his team for their poor performance while he refused to take any part of the blame for himself. Several times he tried breathing fire on his subordinates, but even his rage couldn't conjure the flames he wanted. Instead, he settled for using his father as a threat, saying that he would fry them all once he returned from checking the tournament schedule.

Junior's team was quaking with fear as Bowser approached, appearing to contemplate something along the way. A wicked smile crossed the Koopa Prince's lips as he was certain his father would deal with his team for him, but, surprisingly, he simply ordered them to leave him and his son alone.

"Get out of my sight," Bowser commanded as he walked up to Junior. None of the four team members thought twice, running off as quickly as they could. Bowser Jr. then looked up at his father, his mouth slightly agape.

"Why didn't you fry them Papa?" he asked with something of a whiny voice. Bowser shook his head solemnly and sat down on a nearby bench, prompting his son to take a seat next to him.

"The next match is between Peach and Diddy Kong," Bowser said, making Junior shrug.

"So?"

"I have a plan Junior," Bowser imparted, turning to his son as he spoke. "But first, we have to get on Diddy's good side."

"Why?" Junior asked, scratching the back of his head. "What does it matter if some stupid monkey likes us?"

"Trust me Junior," Bowser said. "If you want to get back at Daisy for beating you tonight, you have to make friends with Diddy. I'll explain after you get him to trust you."

Bowser Jr.'s wicked smirk returned to his lips once again. He had no idea what his father was going on about, but if the end result would let him have his revenge against Daisy, he would do whatever his dad said.

"Okay Dad," Junior responded with a chuckle. "I'll do it."

"Good," Bowser said, ruffling his son's hair playfully and smiling as well. "Now, there's a dinner for the team captains at the Starbeans Cafe tonight. When we get there, just focus on making friends with Diddy and try to get him to come outside with you. We'll talk behind the building once you do."

Junior gave a mischievous snicker as he and his father stood from the bench. The pair began to exit the stadium together, and little did Junior know that his father actually had a much grander scheme in mind than simply helping his son get revenge.


End file.
